We’re all familiar with the phoenix-like existence of the ever resurrected party photographer. Whether we fancy ourselves modelesque, doe-eyed, immortalization-worthy or just plain cute we have at least once considered placing ourselves in front of many a lens- be it at bars, art shows, after-parties or concerts. We at DV have read and heard enough stream-of-consciousness narratives on whether or not party photography can be considered art and the kinds of “cultures” that are created as a result. You can breathe a huge event-sized sigh of relief because this is not about to be all about that, you feel us?

Instead, we’ve recently discovered an artist who has absorbed event photo blogging and decided to create his own twist. Juan Francisco Casas, a Spanish contemporary artist based in Rome, combs through various parties and then photographs the nocturnal fun n’ games himself before reproducing his favourite images on large oil canvases. What immediately caught our attention was not just the accuracy of the renditions, but the fact that a lot were done entirely in ball point pen- blue Bics to be exact. Casas is no stranger to garnering attention with his oil paintings and begun the ball-point portraits to (re)capture what he describes as “youthful and spontaneous domestic photographs of fleeting moments of night time fun” on his Myspace.

These works have won him multiple awards, and he recently completed his artist residency at the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome just last year.

Upon this discovery we’ve been left thinking two things: 1. Somewhere Laszlo Biro is smiling and 2. Our own ball-point doodles will now remain glaringly inadequate.